A Messenger to go

It was a sewing weekend around here. Kids are out of town, so I managed to get a few blissful hours of uninterrupted sewing. Although the time goes by a lot faster than you think - I guess I can't always blame the kids on my lack of productivity. Dear Daughter requested this messenger bag, she is only 6 and just discovered that she likes this kind of bag over say the ever present backpack. So being that her mommy just happens to make these kinds of things, I obliged. So here is the messenger for her. Kid sized, but it will fit a folder of papers, and a few other things. She picked out the fabrics from the stash. I'm pretty happy with how this turned out but I remember why I don't make more messenger bags, these things are pretty time consuming - that would be my excuse for only getting this one thing done Sunday.Being that we live in Oregon ~ you can translate that to mean that it rains a good chunk of the year ~ I decided to laminate it. I hadn't ever tried that before. I used this Therm O Web Iron-on Vinyl. It was pretty easy to use - much easier than I anticipated. It's a little less substantial than purchased laminates but it'll work just fine and it can be wiped clean - another advantage for a child's bag. The fabric is an older Valori wells print that I have always liked, so now it has finally been put to good use.
I added some pen pockets, a zippered pocket and of course a pencil case. My daughter is seldom without her drawing utensils - so she'll be all set.

Funky fall Knot

I tried a little experiment over the weekend - I wanted to see just how far a charm pack would go. Yeah i'm still on the charm pack thing. That's me, can't let it die until it's thoroughly investigated. So here's my version of the ever popular knot dress. I know, I succumbed to the knot dress craze. It's funky but I like how it turned out. Dear daughter is out of town so the jury is still out on whether or not she'll like it. This dress needs oatmeal tights, tall brown boots and a pageboy hat. Yes it does!
This particular charm pack was from Tula Pink's Flutterby line. Not all charm packs are created equal, or at least, some are bigger than others ~ Depending upon how many different prints are in the line. If it's a bigger line, you get a bigger pack. This one is medium sized. So I added a few extra prints to coordinate.

~And there's always enough scraps left over for a little patchwork headband.

Charm Pack Possibilities

Charm packs are those little 5" squares of fabric sold in quilt shops for quilting, presumably - but they also have other uses. Here is one option. Sew up those little squares into a patchwork fabric, add a coordinating fabric and voila! A skirt, a dress - you name it. This is my latest favorite thing to use - I think I'm on garment 3 right now - oh and did I forget to mention that you can find them for under $10 usually - sometimes well under. A steal for all those fabrics and you don't have to buy yardage of multiple prints.

Here's one option made of Moda's Posh print - made into a skirt.
I like the plain pink tee with this already busy skirt, so I added the rosettes to spice it up a bit.
Perfect fall school outfit. This one was intended for the etsy shoppe but my daughter decided she loved it - who knew?! Maybe next time...

Quilting again?

As if I didn't have enough things to do on my agenda, I'm starting to think about quilting again. Let me clarify, I've never been a bona-fide quilter, never referred to myself as one and pretty much denied any interest in them until recently. About 20 years ago, I made 2 small quilts and decided enough was enough - not for me. The main reason being that the typical 'quilt' that comes to my mind looks kinda like this:
And while it's perfectly lovely, doesn't exactly fit in my ultra modern design asthetic with regard to home decor.

But then ~and there's always a but right?~ I started looking at Amy Butlers books and I thought, 'hey those don't look half bad' - in the right fabrics it would be cute and it's totally making me rethink the whole quilt thing. Plus there is that Amy factor again - she keeps popping up in my life with her darned cute fabrics and ideas ~ she is going to be the death of me but I digress.

These have me intrigued and IF and that is a big IF, I get some free time this winter (stop that hysterical laughter!) I might just whip up one of these.

How's this for fun?
or this?

Ta da!! the grand reveal

If you have been waiting for it, it's here. The big day has arrived. The Girlfriends manor is now officially launched. Our ebay auctions are up and whew what a lot of work that was. I don't know how those entrepreneurial moms do it. I work a full time job apart from this and it was all i could do to get this set up. But it was fun to make and totally worth it. Go check out the auction if you are interested in purchasing this or any TGM design. They are all stunning.

Back to school

Is it really back-to-school time already? We still have a few weeks of summer vacation left in these parts, but I know it's time to start thinking about it and planning all things fall and school related.

Along those lines, I'm happy to announce a big project I'm participating in. The Girlfriends Manor (TGM) is a new design group that is having it's inaugural launch on Tuesday. I'm proud to say I'm a part of TGM ~ there are some really talented designers in the group and they are just an all-around great bunch of gals.

Here's a sneak peek at the Trillium Design contributions:



These will go up on auction Tuesday along with all the TGM designers. If you search TGM on ebay you'll see all the TGM designs (or you can just click on the shoe logo above).

Along with the auction launch we are giving away free stuff!! Yes I said Free!! You can't beat free right?

Go check out the website or the TGMblog and join up on the mailing list and post a comment on the blog to be eligible. In the gallery you can also take a look at previous designs by the TGM gals. Lots of cute stuff there. Don't forgot to submit a photo of your cutie to the TGM girls if you'ld like to be included in the gallery.

TGM designers can also be found on Etsy - the place for all things handmade - so search TGM on Etsy to find lots of cute outfits and unique designs to round out your kids back-to-school wardrobes!